Andrea Russotto Made This Game Worth Watching
By: Neil | September 28th, 2008Bologna 0 Napoli 1
This game was so bad I hope nobody else was watching. At times it resembled a Serie B game, and it was only saved by 20 year old Andrea Russotto, who came on for the last 10 minutes. I had never seen Russotto play before, but he was so impressive I wonder why Reja favours strikers like Zalayeta and Pia before him. Russotto didn’t do anything particularly great, but his dribbling and passing skills reminded me of a young Francesco Totti.
With Russotto’s burst of energy and creativity Napoli picked up their play, and German Denis’ 87th minute goal gave Napoli a victory they maybe didn’t fully deserve. Reja rested most of our starters for Thursday’s UEFA Cup game against Benfica, and in the end I thought our best players were the substitutes – Denis, Gargano, and Russotto.
What made this game so bad was that Bologna showed next to nothing – it’s almost like they want their coach Daniele Arrigoni to get fired. Some teams that are short on talent and struggling at least play their hearts out and leave it all on the field, but Bologna looked like they were just going through the motions. Here are the highlights:
This could be a huge three points for Napoli at the end of the season, but we really should have walked over that Bologna team even with most of our starters rested. It was the kind of day where even Hamsik, who was touted as a future Ballon D’Or winner earlier in the week
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=884673
looked pretty average. Since I don’t have any more positives to add, I’ll wrap it up and let others offer an alternate perspective.
Man of the Match – Since Russotto only played ten minutes I can’t really pick him, so I’ll go with Bologna’s Mudingayi, who looked really good on a really bad team.
Le Pagelle:
Gianello – 6.0
Santacroce – 6.0
Rinaudo – 5.5
Aronica – 4.5
Montervino – 4.5
Pazienza – 4.5
Blasi – 6.0
Hamsik – 5.5
Mannini – 6.0
Zalayeta – 5.0
Pia – 5.5
Substitues: Denis 6.5, Gargano 6.5, Russotto 6.5
Reja – 5.0
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Comments
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german denis not gustavo
Posted from
Argentina
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Whoops! For some reason I used his middle name. The change has been made.
Posted from
Canada -
I keep waiting to be impressed by Pia and it keeps not happening. Russotto, on the other hand, was fun to watch. I hope we’ll see more of him! (That 4.5 for Montervino is a bit harsh.)
Posted from
United States -
I was an avid follower of Napoli during my chilhood when a certain small genius lead them to the top of the world. Believe me, everyone here in Malaysia at the time became a fan of the club.
I just hope maybe, both German Denis and Ezequile Lavezzi will have the same impact. By the way any news on Diego Buenonotte joining then a well?
Please do drop by at my blog and let me have your thought as well?
Posted from
Malaysia -
Lisa, I was harsh on all the players for this game. If you look at Denis’ goal, all the Bologna players are standing flat footed. That’s the kind of game they played, and except for a few brief spells Napoli played down to their level.
A couple of things affected Montervino’s rating. In the first half he got beat by his man near the touchline, which should never happen. His crosses weren’t very accurate, and sometimes he cleared the ball when he could have brought it under control. If anything I should have given Pazienza a higher rating, because at least he got a couple of shots towards the goal.
Posted from
Canada -
Yes, but I have a soft spot for Montervino I don’t have for Aronica or Pazienza.
Posted from
United States -
Wow. First of all, it was a horrible game as previously stated. However, much like the others, the last 10 minutes made my day. This young kid, Russotto, is my new favorite hero. Sure, he didn’t score the winning goal. But who cares. This guy is one of our next big stars. Hopefully Reja will remove his blinders long enough to see this one and give the kid some playing time. Even if it is when he rests the starters, Russotto, not Zalayetta needs to be in the game.
Posted from
United States -
I really like your blog template, is makes it simple to navigate.
Posted from
United States
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